Mehreen Chaudhry for Burnaby City Council with the Green Party

I am running for City Council with the Burnaby Green Party. I was born in Ottawa, Ontario and grew up in Pakistan. I moved to the United States to pursue my Bachelor of Arts with honors in International Business and Economics and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois. I have extensive professional experience working as a project manager with multinational organizations.For the past two years, I have been a member of the Burnaby community with my two young sons.

Having faced issues in Burnaby myself, I understand the challenges and needs of young families. In addition, I am highly motivated, outgoing and fully capable to solve those problems to benefit the entire community. I want a better city for not only my children but for all the children to grow up in.

The top three issues in Burnaby that I want to solve are:
1.Affordable Housing: There should be more space and more money invested in affordable housing. Renters comprise 38 percent of households , a growing proportion of the market. Local incomes cannot keep up with housing costs. The City has the resources and legislative tools to improve affordability. City Councillors should make decisions for people, not their developer donors.

2.Lack of daycare space and before and after school care: Childcare can be extremely difficult to find. When you can find it, it is not always easy to get to it. Before and after school care is also a challenge where schools do not have such space. We need a childcare strategy that meets the diverse needs of families.

3.Healthy, Accessible Public Spaces: With increasing traffic congestion and a larger population in town centers, we must provide more green spaces, and greener alternatives for transportation and housing.
The reason that I decided to run for council is that I have released over the last two years living here and listening to the community that is that their issues are not being addressed. There is a disconnect between the people and those running the city. And the thing that stands out most is that the voice of all is not being heard to make that change possible. For me, the problem is that the City is controlled by a small group of people that seem more concerned about maintaining control over the administration of the City than making it sustainable and responsive to its citizens. Me as a candidate and the Burnaby Green Party firmly believe in collaborating with our community and facilitating them through that collaboration to solve their problems.

Canada is the only western country to break into the top 20 most diverse, and I proudly represents that diversity as part of the Burnaby Community.

So I would urge every Muslim brothers and sister to come out and Vote so we can make our city a better place to live.

How you can help me is to please come out vote and urge your friends and family to vote. Please reach out to me with any questions you have and anything that you want to discuss.